Steinberg Etude

The keys to inspiration

This world-class grand piano, a beautiful Yamaha C3X, was sampled in a recording space which was acoustically designed especially for playing and experiencing pianos. You can hear this in every nuance of Etude, its sound perfectly balanced with a delicate harmonic richness at the top end and deep, warm tones in the lower octaves. Its mixer, with four different microphone positions, makes it perfectly suited to scoring, but also for writing classical, jazz or more pop-oriented pieces.

FEATURES

• 18 GB grand piano compressed from 45 GB

• Four microphone positions: Player, Mid, Tail and Room

• Adjustable resonances (sustain and sympathetic), adaptive release samples, piano noises

• Yamaha C3X chromatically sampled with 12 layers of dynamics

Mixer
Create your own mix within Etude for exactly the sound you want. Activate the microphone channel of your choice and control its level, stereo width and pan, then dial in the individual send amount to the reverb channel.

FX Page
Access a minimal set of effects designed for a maximum impact. From custom-made reverb impulse responses to use case-based EQ and compression presets, everything in Etude is crafted especially for this exceptional grand piano.

Mellow/Bright
Define the overall tone of the piano, from a mellow intimate sound toward brighter, crisper tones.

Character
Dial in attack, key and pedal noises to match the piano’s character to the atmosphere of your music.

Sampled resonances
Adjust the harmonic richness of the piano with individual control over the sustain and sympathetic resonances. You can freely mix these additional samples, which come from lifting the sustain pedal, or the individual strings triggered through resonance. This enriches the overall sound and makes the piano experience as realistic as possible

Tuning system
Adjust the tension of the strings to change the tuning character, from initial stretch to more varied and expressive temperaments. The Lehmann, Young 1, Young 2, EVBT and Stretch tuning systems are available.

Dynamic control
Perfectly match the playability of Etude with the dynamic behavior of your MIDI controller. Or reduce the dynamic range for a unique piano tone and playing experience.

Player microphones
These samples were recorded with a stereo pair of small cardioid condenser microphones, positioned above the hammers of the piano. These give the direct sound from the perspective of the piano player.

Mid microphones
The mid microphone channels were recorded using two large diaphragm condenser microphones, placed on the curved side of the rim, close to the position of the lid prop.

Tail microphones
Sampled with a stereo pair of small omnidirectional condenser microphones, placed at a medium distance from the tail end of the piano.

Room microphones
Sampled with a pair of small omnidirectional condenser microphones in an AB configuration, capturing the beautiful sound of the piano and the room.

EQ
Flat, mellow or shiny: a diverse collection of EQ presets provides a great starting point, before further tweaking the piano’s sound.

Compressor
From gentle compression to squashing the sound of the piano, the compressor comes with an intuitive interface and a selection of use case-driven presets tailored for Etude.

Reverb
Work with presets from an algorithmic reverb or with custom impulse responses. Etude can easily switch between different room atmospheres and to get a more authentic sound.

System Requirements

Compatible with: HALion Sonic 7, HALion 7
Operating Systems (Windows): Windows 10 (64-bit), 64-bit Windows 11 Version 21H2 (or higher)
Operating Systems (Mac): macOS Big Sur, macOS Monterey, macOS Ventura, macOS Sonoma, macOS Sequoia, macOS Tahoe
Apple silicon–based Mac: Rosetta 2 App, Native App
PlugIn format (Win): VST 3, AAX
PlugIn format (Mac): VST 3, AU, AAX
Hard disk free space: 18.3 GB
Internet connection for: License activation, installer download, account sign up and product registration

For more information, click here to visit the manufacturers website.